Fastener for connecting high voltage conductors to insulators



Feb. 20, 1934; T. H. BOWEN 1,948,061

FASTENER FOR CONNECTING HIGH VOLTAGE CONDUCTORS TO INSULATORS Filed May19. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 20, 1934. TH. BOWEN 1,948,061

FASTENER FOR CONNECTING HIGH VOLTAGE CONDUCTORS TO INSULATORS Filed May19. 1951 ZSheets-Sheet 2 71 9.. :7-

WIT'W V JEIL. iilunilnmil /Z 54 f 52% awn/144101 Patented Feb. 20, 1934PATENT OFFICE FASTENEB Foa CONNECTING men VOLTAGE CONDUCTORS 1'0 TORSINSULA- Thomas 1!. Bowen, Louisville, Ky. Application May 19, 1031.Serial No. 538,524

' '1 Claims. (01. 173-813) to the insulators in a shorter time withgreater.

ease than is' possible when tie wires are employed.

The invention has for a further object to provide a fastener of thecharacter stated whichshall be adapted to be readily secured to aninsulator, which shall be adapted to permit a conductor or line to bereadily placed therein and in the groove of the insulator with the aidof a high line stick or tool, and which shall be adapted to permit theconductor or line to be clamped therein through the aid of such stick ortool.

The invention has for a further object toprovide a fastener of thecharacter stated which shall be adapted to positively hold the conductoror line against lengthwise movement with respect to the insulator, andwhich shall also be adapted to positivelyghold the conductor or lineagainst upward displacement from the groove of the insulator. I

The invention hasfor a further object to provide a fastener of thecharacter stated which shall be simple and durable and capable of beingmanui'actured and sold at low cost. 85 I With the foregoing and otherobjects in view,

the nature of which will appear as the descrip tion proceeds, theinvention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:- I

Figure 1 is a view partly in top plan and partly in horizontal sectionof the fastener with a frag-'- mentary portion of a conductor or lineclamped therein.

Figure 2 is a viewpartly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection illustrating the fastener and conductor or line applied toan'insulator.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the fastener.

Figure 4'is a sectional view taken on a horizontal plane extendinglongitudinally and centrally through one of the arms of the fastener,and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the vertical plane indicated by.the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 1 designates an insulator of thattype employed in securing high voltage conductors or lines .to poles, '0cross arms and towers. 2 designates the conductor or line receivinggroove and 3 the tie wire receiving groove of the insulator, the formerbeing straight and located in the upper end of the top or head of theinsulator, and the latter be- .5 ing annular and located in a side ofthe top or head immediately below the upper end thereof.

The fastener, which is generally designated 4, comprises an annularmember 5 through the medium of which it is secured to the insulatorlo 1. The ring 5 fits in the groove 3 of the insulator 1 and to the endthat it may be readily positioned in the groove it is made of sectionalformation. The ring sections 5a and 5b are semi-circular,

the section 51: being provided at its. ends with outwardly directed lugs6 which are provided with openings '1 having their walls screw threaded,and the section 5b being provided at its ends with outwardly directedlugs 8 which are provided with openings 9 having smooth walls. so

Bolts 10, passing freely through the lugs 8 and engaging the lugs 6,provide means for securing the ring sections 5a and 5b-in assembledrelation on the insulator 1.

An arm 11 is carried by each of the ring sec- 35 tions 5a and 5b. Thearms 11 are located above the ring sections 5a and 5b and mediallybetween the ends thereof. The arms 11 extend outwardly from the ringsections 5a and 5b, and are integrally connected at their inner lowercorners with the ring sections. Ribs 12 formed integral- 1y with thering sections 5a and 5b and with the arms 11, and located at the lowersides of and equal in length to the arms, serve to strengthen andreinforce the connection between 98 V the ring sections and arms andsupport the arms against the possibility of being bent downwardly withrespect to the ring sections.

The arms 11 are provided in their upper sides with longitudinal grooves13 which are arranged 100 in coaxial relation with each other and whichwhen the fastener is applied to the insulator aline with the groove 2 ofthe insulator so as to receive those portions of the conductor or'line14 located close to the insulator. Corresponding side walls'of thegrooves 13 are convex in cross section and such walls, which aredesignated 15, are provided with teeth 16 which extend transverselythereof and which are curved similarly to the curvature of the walls.lio

The other side walls of the grooves 13 are provided with recesses 17which extend throughout the entire length thereof and which are open attheir ends and inner sides. The top and bottom walls of the recesses 17are parallel, and the outer walls thereof are arranged at an angle tothe walls 15 of the grooves 13, the outer walls inclining laterallyinward from the inner to the outer ends of the arms 11. Wedges 18 areslidably mounted in the recesses 17 with their inclined outer lateralsides in contact with the inclined walls of the recesses. The innerlateral face of each wedge 18 is concave at 19 and has teeth 20 whichextend transversely of the grc eves and which are curved similarly tothe grooves. Each wedge 18 has its outer sides recessed to providecurved surfaces 21 which extend longitudinally of the wedge and withwhich the inner end of a screw 22 engages. The screws are screwthreadedly engaged in the arms 11 and provide means through the mediumof which the wedges may be moved in the direction of the curved walls 15of the recesses 13 to clamp the conductor or line 14 between such wallsand the corresponding curved inner lateral sides 19 of the wedges.

In practice, the fastener 4 is secured to the insulator 1 through themedium of its sectional ring 5, the ring engaging in the groove 3 of theinsulator to hold the fastener against movement in any direction withrespect to the insulator. After the fastener 4 has been applied to theinsulator 1 with the wedges 18 in their greatest spaced relation to thewalls 15 of the recesses 13. the conductor 14 is placed in the groove20f the insulator and said recess of the fastener, and this may beeasily and quickly done through the medium of a high-line stick or tool.

After the conductor 14 has been applied to the insulator 1 and fastener4, the screws 22 are turned up to move the wedges 18 in the direction ofthe walls 15 of the grooves 13, to the end that the conductor will beclamped to the fastener. As the screws 22 extend laterally outward fromthe arms 11, they may be readily turned up through the medium of a linestick'provided with a socket. During the adjustment of the wedges 18,the teeth 20 of the wedges and the teeth 16 of the-arms 11 engage theconductor 14, and as these teeth are arcuate they positively hold theconductor or line against upward displacement with respect to thefastener 4, and also hold the conductor against lengthwise movement toany material extent with respect to the fastener. Any such movement ofthe conductor or line 14 will move one of the wedges 18 outwardly withrespect to the arm 11 carrying such wedge, and such movement of suchwedge will, due -to the contact of its arcuate surface 21 with itsscrews 22, result in the movement of the wedge in the direction of theopposing wall of the recess 13 and bring about a firmer clamping actionon the conductor or line. If the insulator 1 is to be removed from thepole, cross arm or tower to which it is applied, the conductor 14 maybe, after backing out the screws 22 by the high-line stick, readilyremoved from the clamp and insulator by a high-line stick. The clampsmay be readily applied to the new insulator and thereafter the conductoror line 14 may be readily applied to and secured to the fastener. Lockwashers 10a and lock nuts 22a are provided for the screws 10 and 22.respectively.

Should the conductor or line 14 break, only those portions locatedbetween the poles or towers where the break occurred will fall, due tothe fact that the conductor or line cannot become displaced inlengthwise direction from the fastener 4. The fastener 4 may be made ofany metal possessing suflicient strength to hold the conductor or line14 and the insulator 1 and to hold the conductor or line in the event ofthe breaking of the same. The fastener 4 may also be used for thepurpose of dead-ending a conductor or line, and when used for thispurpose will obviate the necessity of wrapping the conductor or linearound the top of an insulator in a so-called figure 8. In addition toreducing the time and labor necessary to connect a high voltageconductor or line to an insulator, the fastener obviates the necessityof the use of the tools now employed to connect a tie wire to aninsulator and connect the tie wire to the conductor or line and the toolnow employed to wrap a ribbon about the conductor or line, and thusmaterially reduces the cost of equipment necessary to connect theconductor thereto.

It will be seen that by my construction I entirely do away with thenecessity of using a tie wire extending around the insulator l and thatinstead of this I form my conductor clamping or gripping device of twosections, a section having confronting ends disposed at right angles tothe length of the conductor and held together by the screws 10. This isan important feature of my construction inasmuch as it spaces the screws10 away from the conductor 14 which is a very necessary thing where aconductor is carrying high tension currents. Furthermore, it places thescrews 10 in such positionthat they may be readily operated to tightenthem up by the use of a high line stick as-it is called. Furthermore, myconstruction permits the fastening or gripping means to be attached tothe insulator before the insulator is attached on the arm or pole. Againwith my construction, the conductor 14'is held positively by tworelatively long wedges 18 and the opposed relatively long jaws so thatthe conductor is held or clamped over a relatively long area. By meansof the screws 22, the wedges 18 may not only be forced inward, so as toaccommodate conductors of different diameters, but these screws 22prevent each wedge from backing out and the curved faces 21 of therecesses in the wedges act in conjunction with the screws 22 to causethe member 18 to wedge against the conductor no matter how much themember 18 may be forced inward and act to cause the member 18 to bewedged against the conductor whether strain be placed upon the conductorto pull it in one direction or the other. In other words. there is apositive grip on the conductor no matter in which direction theconductor is pulled. If it were not for the screws 22, my device wouldnot be applicable to conductors of different diameters or while themembers 18 might be forced inward against a conductor, if it were notfor the recesses 21, the members 18 would not exert any wedging a'ction.With my construction, therefore, a conductor is positively held by bothwedges against longitudinal movement in either direction. Furthermore,this permits a conductor to be dead ended and held by both wedges or asingle wedge as may be desired. If a conductor or wire should burn. downbetween the poles, my fastening device will hold on both sides of theinsulator to the left of the insulator as well as to the right. With myconstruction, furthermore, the screws 22 which hold the wedges in placeagainst the conductor are entirely separate from the means which holdsthe sections of the fastener together ,lator.

around the insulator, thus permitting the adjust ment of these wedgeswithout in any way affecting the engagement of the two sections with theinsu- These screws 22 are held in locked position by the lock' nuts 22aand cannot, therefore,

back out by reason of vibration or anything of this nature. 7

Both of the screws are disposed on the same side of the fastener andhence may be operated from the ground or from the pole. My fastener canbe reached with an insulated stick and socket wrench from the center ofthe pole without any danger to the lineman. The screws 22 in myconstruction are on one side of the fastener, as before remarked, whichis the side facing the pole. With my construction, the wedges are put inplace initially with the screws 22 turned fully outward and thus theconductors may be readily slipped into placebetween the wedges and theopposed jaws and then the wedges shifted inward to lock the conductorsto the jaws. Thus there is no necessity of a lineman inserting thewedges by hand and thus rendering himself likely to come in contact withthe high tension wires.

While I have describedthe principle of the invention, together with thestructure which I now consider the preferred embodiment thereof, it isto be understood that the structure shown is merely illustrative andthat such changes may be made, when desired,fas fall within the scope ofthe invention as claimed. What is claimed is:- 1. A fastener forconnecting a conductor to an insulator having a top or head providedwith a conductor receiving groove, the fastener comprising arms havingconductor receiving grooves adapted to register with and formcontinuations of the groove in the head, one wall of each of saidgrooves being concave and the other recessed, the recesses having theirouter wa'ls inclined laterally inward from their inner to their outerends, wedges slidable laterally and longitudinally in said recesses andhaving concave sides opposing said concave walls, screws carried by thearms disposed transversely to the length of the wedges, engaging withthe wedges and providing means by which the wedges may be movedtransversely of the length of the arms while permitting longitudinalmovement of the wedges, the wedges having wedging engagement with thescrews in any laterally adjusted pos tion of the,

wedgesand means for securing the arms to the top or head.

2. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator having a top orhead provided with a conductor receiving groove, the fastener comprisingarms having conductor receiving grooves adapted to register with andform continuations of the ends of the groove in the head, 'one wall ofeach of said ,grooves being concave and the other provided with arecess, the outer walls of said recesses being inclined, wedges slidablein said recesses and having concave inner sides opposing said concavewals, the wedges being provided at their outer sides with longitudinallyconcave recesses, screws carried by the arms and contacting with thefaces of the recesses, and means for securing the arms to the top orhead.

3. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator having a top orhead provided in its upper end with a diametric conductor receivinggroove, the fastener having opposed arms adopted to register with theends of said groove, the arms having upwardly opening longitudinallyelongated conductor receiving grooves constituting continuations of thegroove in the head, one wal of each groove being recessed, and a wedgedisposed in the recess of each arm, the re'- cess being of a depth suchthat the wedge may be disposed entirely within the recess to permit theready insertion of the conductor or removal thereof when the wedge isfully retracted, and means whereby each wedge may be shiftedtransversely of its length into operative clamping engagement with theconductor.

4. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator'having a headprovided with a conductor receiving groove, thefastener having means forembracing the head and having two arms extending outwardly from saidmeans, each arm having an upwardly opening conductor receiving grooveadapted to register with the ends of the groove in the head, one wall ofthe recess being concavely curved transversely to the length of thegroove, the other wall being recessed, a longitudinally movable wedgedisposed within the recess and constituting a Jaw confronting theopposite wall of the recess, and

- a screw extending through the wall of the recess whereby the wedge maybe shifted toward the opposite wall, the wedge when bearing against theconductor having wedging engagement with the screw.

5. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator having a headprovided with a neck and a diametric conductor receiving groove in itsupper face, the fastener being formed in two sections, each sectiondefining a semi-circular element, said elements when joined embracingthe insulator around said neck, each section of the fastener having armsextending outward, each arm having a conductor receiving groove adaptedto register with the ends of the groove in the head, one wall of thegroove being concavely turned transversely to the length of the groove,the other wall being recessed, a longitudinally movable wedge disposedin the recess andhaving a concavely curved inner face confronting thecurved inner face of the opposite wal of the groove, and a screwextending, through the outer wall of the recess and bearing against saidwedge whereby the wedge may be shifted toward the first named wall andhave wedging engagement with the screw.

6. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator having a headprovided with a conductor receiving groove, the fastener having meansfor embracing the head and having two arms extending outward from saidmeans, each arm having a conductor receiving groove adapted to registerwith the ends of the groove in the head, one wall of the groove beingconcavely curved transversely to the length of the groove, the otherwall being recessed, a conductor engaging wedge disposed in the recessand having its inner face concavely curved transversely to the length ofthe wedge, the outer face of the wedge having a. longitudinallyextending concave recess, and a screw extending through the wall of.thefirst named recess and engaging in the concave recess of thewedgewhereby the wedge may be shifted toward the first-named wall and have atall times wedging engagement with the screw when the wedge is shifted ineither direction.

7. A fastener for connecting a conductor to an insulator having a top orhead provided with a conductor receiving groove, the fastener comprisinga sectional ring adapted to embrace the" top or head, means for securingthe ring sections really of the grooves, and a tightening screw carriedby each arm extending transversely oi. the length of the correspondingwedge and acting to shift the corresponding wedge inward toward themedial plane of the arm, but permitting longitudinal movement of thewedge.

THOMAS H. BOWEN.

III

